Paperback, 451 pages
English language
Published March 23, 2021 by HarperCollins.
Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new "emancipation" bill in the United States Congress. It is 1953, and he and the other council members know the bill isn't about freedom—it is a "termination" that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity.
Since graduating from high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. She works at the plant in a job that pays barely enough to support her mother and younger brother. Determined to find her beloved older sister, Vera, and her child who have disappeared, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minneapolis that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence that endanger her life.
Based on the extraordinary life of …
Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new "emancipation" bill in the United States Congress. It is 1953, and he and the other council members know the bill isn't about freedom—it is a "termination" that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity.
Since graduating from high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. She works at the plant in a job that pays barely enough to support her mother and younger brother. Determined to find her beloved older sister, Vera, and her child who have disappeared, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minneapolis that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence that endanger her life.
Based on the extraordinary life of Louise Erdrich's grandfather Patrick Gourneau, who carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota to Washington, D.C., The Night Watchman is a majestic work of fiction from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.
This book has a lot to offer. For me the pages just flew by. I thought it was the perfect combination of taking a historical fact (the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota) and a fictionalized story and characters around to catch the athmosphere and storys of that time. Highly recommended!
4.5 but not quite a five star read the length of time this took me to read had nothing to do with the content and everything to do with me struggling to use an e-reader this year. took months to get to about 20% in but i read the rest in the last 24 hours. delighted by the almost mis direct of the title, i loved a lot about this and want to read more erdich immediately. really great writing full of love and truth
This historical novel by Louise Erdich is a gem. I liked the characters, the plot, and I liked the fact that I learned something, too! This is one of the few times I actually read the acknowledgements.
Highly recommended.
